Ouray – Two bodies were recovered from a plane crash in the rugged, snow-covered mountains of southwest Colorado today, but bodies of the two other people aboard the aircraft were missing.
The bodies found today were believed to be those of the pilot, Robert Ford, 59, of Chino, Calif., and his wife, Patricia, 57, said Ouray County Sheriff Dominic Mattivi.
The bodies of their son, Richard Ford, 36, and his 4-year-old son, Matthew, have not been located. Another search will be made in two to three weeks when conditions improve, Mattivi said.
“That’s all we can do right now,” he said. “We just don’t know where the other two victims are. They could be buried under 6 inches of snow or 10 feet.”
The Cessna 210 was reported overdue May 12 when it failed to arrive in Elbert, about 150 miles away, where the family has a vacation home. The Civil Air Patrol found the wreckage near the 13,492-foot Whitehouse Mountain on May 13.
A helicopter landed above the crash site today morning and dropped off a recovery crew. Team members then hiked through waist-deep snow to clear a landing site closer to the bodies.
Previous attempts had been turned back by avalanche danger and rugged terrain.
“It’s very jagged, very steep. Its not uncommon to see 300-foot sheer cliff walls on three sides,” Mattivi said.
